Martin Lawrence confirms Bad Boys return

Martin Lawrence has confirmed his return to the 'Bad Boys' franchise.

The 53-year-old actor starred as Detective Marcus Burnett in the 1995 film 'Bad Boys; and its 2003 sequel 'Bad Boys II', and he has now confirmed he is on board for the upcoming third instalment of the saga, 'Bad Boys for Life'.

Martin took to Instagram to post a picture of himself next to 50-year-old Will Smith - who starred alongside Martin as Detective Mike Lowry, and who will also be returning - and said the third movie was now "official".

For Martin, the return marks the first time he's been in a movie since 2011's 'Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son', and the first time he's acted at all since appearing in the 2014 TV series 'Partners'.

'Bad Boys for Life' has been discussed for years and suffered several false dawns, largely due to Will's hectic schedule, but last month, it was reported that Sony Pictures were on the cusp of giving the movie the green light.

Production is set to begin on the movie in early 2019, with the film having been handed a tentative release date of January 2020.

Meanwhile, Will previously revealed he was certain that he and Martin would be reuniting for the third 'Bad Boys' movie.